Campers UNITE!

On April 1st, Camp NaNo started. I honestly love these events simply because they push me to GET MORE WRITING DONE than I normally would in a month. They also remind me that playing on Twitter all day is not an effective use of my time. WHO KNEW?

Thus far, I've had an outstanding start to the month. I've been working almost exclusively on the third book in my Zombie Apocalypse Love Story series (which is not the official title, mind you) and I am LOVING falling into these characters heads again. I also have plans to write the next two installments of my Monstrous Tales series. You know, once I've written a teeeeeeny bit more on those zombies.

I'm tracking my daily word count in a couple of places -- on my author Facebook page, on Twitter under the #wsidekick hashtag (as @KellyRApple), and on the Camp NaNo website.

Meanwhile, I have two releases planned this month -- Monstrous Tales #6, which will be going live this weekend, and Monstrous Tales Volume 2 (going live in about 2 weeks. Or so. We'll see.).

Yes, it's busy around here. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way! Now, back to the writing!

Camp NaNo and The Writing Sidekick!

I'm very excited to be taking part in Camp NaNo in April (as other me, in case you were wondering). This shouldn't be all that surprising since I've been writing a metric crap ton lately. HOWEVER, I'm also excited to be joining Amanda in her new writing community -- The Writing Sidekick -- that will be running in conjunction with Camp NaNo.

In short, it's a way for writers to connect with one another as we all struggle toward a common goal (hitting our Camp NaNo numbers, in this case). Having people to bounce ideas off of can make the difference between a 1K word day and an epic 5K day. Sometimes, when you get stuck, you just need someone to tell you to keep writing.

I'll be working on book 3 in my zombie apocalypse love story series. Or possibly I'll be finishing up my Monstrous Tales series. OR BOTH. I don't like to limit myself.

If you've been thinking about writing in April (or even if you haven't but after reading this rambling ode to wordage you now think you might want to), JOIN US. Because writing with friends makes the boner jokes funnier.

Or maybe that's just me.

I'm NaNo-ing. Are you?

As a reminder, I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this month. If you have a hankering to join me, PLEASE DO! The more the merrier, I always say!

We're only on day 2, so if you haven't started writing your epic masterpiece, you still have PLENTY OF TIME to get caught up. If you need some additional motivation to keep things moving in a 50K word direction, I'm here for you.

In October, I blogged about things you can do to prep for NaNo over at KellyApple.com. For the month of November, I'll be chronicling any bumps in the road I hit as I attempt to write my 50K. Oh, and I'll be taking a look at my successes. You know, those days where you double your expected word count and feel like celebrating! YAY!

Need some more motivation? OKAY!

Amanda has compiled some of her favorite articles about writing.
Alissa reminds us it's okay to ask stupid writing questions.
Chuck Wendig's blog offers up the four fears that stop you from writing.
Amanda dispenses some writing tips.
Chelsea takes a look at what she gets out of NaNo.
And here's 25 editing tips that help tighten up your work.

(Yeah, not all of those apply to the actual writing part, but being aware of some of my writing quirks made writing EASIER for me because I wasn't getting bogged down with how often I used certain words or phrases. Simply acknowledging that some words are crutches made me find creative ways to NOT use them. Weird? Maybe. But it works for me.)

So... GO FORTH AND WRITE, MY LITTLE DARLINGS! Let's see what we can accomplish in November!

NaNoWriMo 2013

Guess what? I'm going to be participating in NaNoWriMo this year!

This shouldn't be a shock since I've participated in it nearly every year since I first found out about it. I even wrote through my computer crashing that one year. *weeps at the memory*

If you're interested in the mechanics of writing a novel (aka: sitting your ass down and writing), I can be found under soulswallo and you're MORE THAN WELCOME to join me as I push through and attempt to pad my NaNo winning streak!

I'll be over at KellyApple.com in October talking about what I do to prepare for this month-long writing extravaganza (hint: the answer is "not much". I like to write by the seat of my pants.). In November, I'll be indulging in weekly updates as to how it's going for me. This might include some excerpts but I make no promises.

Join me! Write a novel! HAVE FUN TORTURING YOUR CHARACTERS AND PUTTING THEM INTO AWKWARD SITUATIONS! WOOT!

Way to go, guys! YOU ALL ROCK!

This is one of those random posts. You know, the ones where they don't really have anything to do with books (ehh, maybe a little to do with books) but they delight and excite me all the same.

We're halfway through the month of July (kinda. If you tilt you head and squint.) and I'm signed up for Camp NaNo. For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo is a month long writing event where participants attempt to write a 50K word novel in 30 days. It used to only be held in November but the masses clamored for MOAR and the NaNo gods relented and gave us several opportunities throughout the year.

So, it's July. I'm signed up. I was aiming to get 30K words written (Camp NaNo lets you tailor your word count, so you don't have to commit to 50K). With my new job (yay!) and various other things going on, 30K felt like an achievable number.

As of the writing of this post (on Friday), my word count is a smidge over 23K. Which boggles me. In a good way. I'm proud of what I've done. My zombie story might be a little light on actual zombies (oops) but my characters are rockin' it (sometimes literally! ZING!) and I'm loving what's going on.

So, this is my encouragement post to everyone out there. Whether you're writing or blogging or reading or just being awesome... WAY TO GO! YOU ALL ROCK!

And if you're sitting there thinking "I'm not rocking it. You're wrong, Kelly." here's my challenge to you... find something that you're proud of -- it doesn't matter WHAT it is -- and share it. I KNOW you have something and I want to hear about it.

SHARE THE LOVE! This is your chance to brag and show me what you're made of!

Also, I kind of adore you all and I'm tempted to pass out squishy virtual hugs that are not at all creepy but might be a little frightening in their exuberance. What the heck? I'm going to do it!

*SQUISHY HUGS*

You can come back for seconds, I DON'T MIND!